July 2013 Recap

New month...it's recap time!

1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die - As seen in July 2013
1) Star Wars (1977 - George Lucas) 6/10 - I pretty much stand by most of my ratings for the for "1001" movies I watched last month, so not a lot of need for new comments.
2) Star Wars: Episode V - The Empire Strikes Back (1980 - Irvin Kershner) 5/10
3) Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (1983 - Richard Marquand) 7.5/10
4) Beauty and the Beast (1946 - Jean Cocteau) 4/10

Okay, that's that...now then...

NON-1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die - As seen in July 2013
1) Inglourious Basterds (2009 - Quentin Tarantino) 7.5/10 - If I recall correctly, this is the last movie I actually went to the theaters to see. I went with my older brother and I remember leaving the theater being pretty disappointed. I didn't hate it, by any means, but I WAS disappointed. It had been five years since the previous QT movie (not counting "Death Proof", which you get the feeling he really didn't put his FULL effort into), at a time when Tarantino was my favorite director, so being really hyped up probably didn't help my final opinions of this movie. When my wife and I found the DVD in a $5 bin at K-Mart, I decided to buy it and give it another go. This time around I liked it much more and honestly, this film is just a collection of fantastic scene after fantastic scene, epic dialogue, characters that could only exist in the confines of a work of fiction and just an all around good movie. Keep your eyes open for a star making performance by Christoph Waltz and a really good performance from Brad Pitt.

2) Jackie Brown (1997 - Quentin Tarantino) 7/10 - Yep, I actually liked "Basterds" a little more than this. I guess I should explain that I used to love me some "Jackie Brown" and while I still do, I'm starting to realize that Tarantino is starting to make more epic films. I know, I know, it was just a few months ago when I was condemning his newer work and praising his pre-Kill Bill films. Actually I'll humbly recant that statement and let's just say the pre-Kill Bill films and the post Kill Bill films are different - lots of similarities, but the newer stuff is far more epic. "Jackie Brown" is a very intricate little crime caper movie, really good and Tarantino revives the careers of Pam Grier, Robert Forster and Michael Keaton. There are no bad QT movies, so check it out and nevermind my '7' rating - it's really good.

3) Death Proof (2007 - Quentin Tarantino) 8/10 - Okay, so I realize that I just said (above) that you get the feeling QT didn't put his full efforts into this one and I truly believe that, but this was damn good. This is another one that I was EXTREMELY disappointed with when I first saw it, but I'll be damned if this didn't blow me away this time around. Now, don't get me wrong. I guess you have to realize that this is Tarantino's one (and probably only) horror movie and because of that, it's going to be a little less than his other efforts. I don't necessarily think that "Death Proof" is better than "Jackie Brown" or "Inglourious Basterds" (despite the difference in ratings), it's just a matter of being really surprised to taking to this one so well. Honestly, if QT had decided to just keep this one as a short and just present the first half of "Death Proof" (the Jungle Julia portion), I'd have gone a full '10', because that part was superb. As it is, it's still really good. I will say that the great dialogue sort of overshadows the rest of the gritty movie and it's really REALLY obvious that we're watching a Tarantino picture while watching "Death Proof" - overly obvious even. Self indulgent as can be, but great music, great dialogue, great characters and possibly the greatest car chase scene I've ever seen make this a huge winner!

Now all I have to do is watch and speak on "Kill Bill: Volume 2" and I'll have written about every single Quentin Tarantino feature on this here blog.

4) Ted (2012 - Seth MacFarlane) 3/10 - I should probably be going even lower in grasping for a "Ted" rating, but I won't deny the fact that I laughed a few times. Look, I love Seth MacFarlane as much as the next guy, but he needs to stick to animation (preferably "American Dad" and "Family Guy") and leave the movie making to the big kids. This was just WAY too crude for my tastes. I can handle the talking teddy bear aspect of it, but what I can't tolerate is CONSTANT cursing, extreme foulness and Mark Wahlberg. I will say that Giovanni Ribisi was really good here and if Mila Kunis got her act together, I think she'd make a great play thing for Woody Allen (no, not like that you perverts). Although after starring in a piece of trash like this, Allen would be crazy to even consider her. How this is rated over a '7' on IMDB, I'll never know.

TOP 20 Tracker:

A new feature here in the monthly recaps, TOP 20 TRACKER will do just as it's name suggests: track the contenders for the upcoming TOP 20 list. It will basically just be a list. Movies on the list will feature either a (10) or (20) next to them. The (10) means it's being heavily considered for the "Ten Worth Mentioning" section of the TOP 20, while the (20) means it's being considered for the actual TOP 20 list. Remember, everything is subject to the whims of my ever changing opinions.

TOP 20 TRACKER:
1) Star Wars: Episode VI - Return of the Jedi (10)

August 2, 2013  9:00pm